Larimer County issues 27 civil union licenses, mostly to women

May 1, 2013

Julie Horton, left, and partner Ellen Brinks, of Fort Collins, are photographed as they celebrate applying for their civil union Wednesday at the Larimer County Courthouse Offices in Fort Collins. Wednesday was the first day for people to receive civil unions under a Colorado law passed earlier this year by the Legislature. / Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan

Larimer County issued 27 civil union licenses Wednesday, when a new Colorado law took effect granting legal protections to couples regardless of gender.

“It’s been a steady trickle” of applicants, according to Angela Myers, the county’s interim chief deputy clerk.

About 80 percent of the couples that obtained civil union licenses here Wednesday are lesbians, and almost 20 percent are gay men. One heterosexual couple got a civil union license in Larimer County.

However, the licenses don’t tell the whole story. Under the new law, civil unions and gay marriages from states where they are already legal are automatically recognized as civil unions in Colorado. An unknown number of couples in Larimer County and statewide fall into that category.

Six couples ranging in age from their early 20s to their late 60s lined up Wednesday morning to receive the first licenses to get civil unions in Fort Collins.

Zach Trevarton, 23, and Sean Masters, 28, were first in line. They arrived an hour before the county clerk’s office opened and got the first civil union license issued by Larimer County in Fort Collins.

“I hope there’s a No. 1 somewhere on the license,” Trevarton said. They have a small ceremony planned next week with family in attendance. Most of the early-bird couples said they plan to hold celebrations in the weeks and months ahead.

As county clerk staff handed out the licenses, the couples gathered in line clapped and cheered enthusiastically for their predecessors.

The hospital visitation and medical decision-making privileges that the new law affords appealed most to the couples in line for civil unions. Additionally, the law will grant gay and heterosexual couples in civil unions rights of inheritance, ability to insure a spouse and shared parental responsibility for children. It also includes provisions for dissolution of a relationship, including spousal financial maintenance, parental visitation rights and child support responsibilities.

Beyond the changes in law, the couples assembled Wednesday said Colorado’s acknowledgment of their love means a great deal.

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In line behind Trevarton and Masters were Lori Beahm, 49, and Trouble Lucero, 52, the first lesbian couple to receive a civil union license in Fort Collins.

“It’s the legal rights that matter,” Beahm said. “It’s not the word marriage. I can now be able to go see (Lucero) if she’s in a coma. If I die, she doesn’t have to worry about our families taking the house away from her. It’s really the ability to take care of the one you love.”

But the symbolic side of the law is not lost on Beahm.

“It says that we’re beginning to open our eyes and our minds to the fact that we’re just like anybody else,” she said. “All we want is to be able to take care of each other, take care of our families and prosper like anybody else.”

Still, for many in line civil unions fall short of the ultimate prize — gay marriage, banned under a voter-approved amendment to the Colorado Constitution that defines as a union between one man and one woman. Ellen Brinks, 55, and Julie Horton, 52, said a civil union will suffice, but just for now.

“We wanted to be here on the first day when it opened because it’s a historic day for Colorado,” Brinks said. “This we see as one step toward full marriage equality.”

“One tiny step,” Horton added.

Pattie Cowell, 64, and Sherry Pomering, 66, have been together 30 years. They said until an acknowledgment of their life together exists in federal law, they remain at a disadvantage relative to heterosexual couples.

“Some of the things that would be most useful to us are not here yet,” Cowell said. “Sherry’s on Social Security. I have no access as a survivor if that’s what happens. Civil unions are the first step to providing legal and financial protections for families. It just seems to me that the discriminations against this category of family are starting to break down, and that delights me.”